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Mechanical Astronomy: A Route to the Ancient Discovery of Epicycles and Eccentrics

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From Alexandria, Through Baghdad

Abstract

The ancient Greek art of spbairopoiia was devoted to the building of models of the universe such as celestial globes and annillary spheres. But it also included the construction of geared mechanisms that replicated the motions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, such as the famous orrery that Cicero attributed to Archimedes or the spectacular Antikythera mechanism, found in an ancient shipwreck of about 60 BC. Was sphairopoiia merely an imitative art, in which the modelers followed the precepts of the theoretical astronomers? Or could theoretical astronomy also learn something from the art of mechanics? In this paper, we examine the relation of astronomy to mechanics in the ancient Greek world, and argue that we should imagine astronomy and mechanics in conversation with one another, rather than in a simple, one-way transmission of influence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Seattle, USA

    James Evans

  2. Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Christián Carlos Cannan

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  1. James Evans
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School for International Liberal Studies, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan

    Nathan Sidoli

  2. Quest University, Squamish, British Columbia, Canada

    Glen Van Brummelen

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Evans, J., Cannan, C.C. (2014). Mechanical Astronomy: A Route to the Ancient Discovery of Epicycles and Eccentrics. In: Sidoli, N., Van Brummelen, G. (eds) From Alexandria, Through Baghdad. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-36736-6_7

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